SELMA, Alabama -- Craig Field Airport is in the running as the site of a pilot training program that could bring new life to the former Air Force base near Selma and an economic shot in the arm for the surrounding area.

Science and Engineering Services LLC, which has an office in Huntsville, is vying to be the prime contractor for a program that would train pilot candidates from Kuwait, up to 300 annually.

The company has selected Craig Field as its preferred training site for the international pilot flight training program, Selma officials said earlier this month in an announcement that revealed few details about the project. The contract is expected to be awarded this fall.

"We are cautiously optimistic about SES winning this project, which means we win too, and look forward to hearing in September," Wayne Vardaman, executive director of the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority, said this week.

Craig Field was once home to the 29th Flying Training Wing, which was tasked with pilot training for the Air Force. Craig Air Force Base was closed in 1978 and then converted to civilian use, according to Menzo Driskell, executive director of the Craig Field Airport & Industrial Authority.

Selma's business recruiters have been working to revitalize the airport, activity that would spill over into the rest of the region, which has long struggled with high unemployment.

For the past six years, Selma has had an annual average jobless rate in the double digits. In April, unemployment was 12 percent.

The New York Times this week traced Selma's history from a Civil Rights battlefront to now a potential training site for international pilots.

The Times also noted other significant foreign investment in Alabama, including those that make up the state's auto industry, the new Airbus aircraft plant in Mobile and a Chinese copper tubing facility that is set to open next week.

SES is based in Columbia, Md., and its main business sector is in Huntsville. The company, which employs 750 people, is primarily focused on the design, maintenance, repair, overhaul, training and integrated logistics support on aviation and ground systems and services, a news release said.